


The Bon Odori

by TouchingOldMagic



Series: Ghostbusters 30 Day Challenge [16]
Category: Ghostbusters - All Media Types, The Real Ghostbusters
Genre: Bust Fic, Gen, Japanese Bon Dance Festival, Japanese Culture, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Oni, japanese appreciation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:14:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24889741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TouchingOldMagic/pseuds/TouchingOldMagic
Summary: Day 16 of the Ghostbusters 30 Day ChallengePrompt: Summer at the FirehouseSummertime in New York means hot weather, cultural festivals, and interloping monsters!
Series: Ghostbusters 30 Day Challenge [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1779643
Kudos: 4





	The Bon Odori

**Author's Note:**

> Japanese culture is one of my favorite areas of study, so it pops up in my fanfics a lot. This one is about my fave Japanese holiday. The New York Buddhist Church really does celebrate the Japanese Bon Dance Festival in Bryant Park in Manhattan every summer! Tourists and locals are welcome, so if you're in the area next year in July, you should stop by~

Despite ominous warnings of thundershowers earlier in the week, the July day had dawned clear and warm, perfect for a summer celebration. Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan was alive with color and sound, as well as the milling shapes of almost a hundred New Yorkers as they gathered to celebrate the Bon Dance Festival.

In the center of the park stood the dancers, two dozen people of various ethnicity arranged in neat rows. Their movements matched the steady beats of the two men playing large drums, called _taiko_ drums, in the center of the crowd. The drums were level with the hips of the drummers, who struck them with short wooden sticks, producing a deep sound.

Next to the drummers two large stereo speakers played accompanying music, a beautiful high sound of stringed instruments and flutes which, combined with the paper lanterns and food stalls that decorated the park, seemed to transport the whole area to another country. All the dancers and many people in the crowd were dressed in colorful robes, and hardly any two were alike. Some were solid colors but many were printed in bold patterns such as horizontal stripes of blue and white, small pink flower buds, wave patterns in various shades of blue, or red and white fish.

"Why is everyone here in their bathrobes?" Peter grumbled, pushing through the crowd impatiently. Walking around in a uniform of thick fabric and a fifty-pound proton pack in July weather was not putting him in the best mood.

"These are kimonos," Ray pointed out, following a step behind with his eyes on his PKE meter, letting Peter clear the way. "They're part of Japanese culture and they're often worn during festivals."

"That's swell, Ray, really. Can you tell where the troll-thing went or not?"

"I'm pretty sure it's an _Oni_! They're prevalent in Japanese mythology and the celebration today might have drawn it out of a--"

"Don't care," Peter interrupted him. "Where is it?" The sooner they finished the bust, the sooner he could return to a location that had air conditioning.

Ray turned the dial on the PKE meter, adjusting the readings. He stopped walking abruptly. "Hold up, it changed direction."

"Of course it did," Peter sighed.

Ray grabbed the radio off his belt. "Ray to Egon, head's up! He's heading back toward you and Winston! You might have to search through the crowd, I think he's been using it for cover."

"I don't believe that will be necessary," came Egon's voice over the radio. "He's just decided to change his tactics. Please join us at the southern end of the crowd." There was the sound of a crash, then an angry roar. "Ah, immediately."

Ray and Peter pulled their throwers and broke into a run as people around them began to scream. The crowd broke up, people fleeing from the park, away from the loud disturbance. The music cut off from the speakers and the drumbeats fell silent. In a record amount of time, most of the people had cleared out. (Many New Yorkers had learned that it was beneficial to run whenever the roaring started.) Ray and Peter spotted their lanky teammate's blond hair above what remained of the scattering crowd and angled toward him and Winston.

Not far from the other two Ghostbusters, a six-foot-tall monstrosity was destroying one of the nearby food carts. It was mostly humanoid in appearance, but it had angry red skin and an elongated nose that stuck straight out from its face. A mouthful of prominent fangs and two demonic horns on top of its head, poking up through lank black hair, completed the look. It gave another roar as it lifted the food cart over its head, scattering round balls of meat skewered on sticks all over the ground.

"Someone should tell this guy there's a pizza joint around the corner if he's not in the mood for sushi," Peter cracked, drawing a bead on the _Oni_ with his thrower. He and Ray blasted at it, their movements in sync from long practice, but the _Oni_ tossed the food cart in the way and the beams struck the cart instead. Winston and Egon tried from another angle, but the _Oni_ leaped high in the air and landed in one of the trees leaning over the park's walkways.

"He's so far proving elusive due to his dexterous nature," Egon reported, raising his voice to be heard over the angry howling of the creature as it now attacked the tree with fists and fangs.

"Yeah and he's dodging the proton streams, too," Winston added.

Suddenly a noise drew the Ghostbusters' attention. They turned toward the center of the park, where a single man stood next to one of the _taiko_ drums. He was a tall Japanese man in a pale blue kimono and black leggings, with a white bandana tied around his head. The two stereo speakers had been tipped over when the crowd panicked, but he had righted the one next to him and resumed the music. Once it was playing again, he started striking the drum in time, creating the unmistakable beat of the _Bon Odori_ , the festival dance.

The _Oni_ stopped attacking the tree and turned toward the sound. Its muscular legs bent and then it launched itself from the tree, landing directly in the center of the park, close to the man. The impact left a spiderweb of cracks in the concrete under its feet.

"Hey man, look out!" Winston cupped his hands around his mouth and called out. But the man didn't move and his drumbeats didn't falter, although his expression told them that it was taking all his courage to remain standing there.

The _Oni_ was silent, for once, and it didn't reach for the man. It held out its hands in front of its body, squaring its shoulders. Then, in time with the music, it took careful steps across the concrete, recreating the dance as if in a trance.

With the creature momentarily distracted in this way, that was all the Ghostbusters needed to surround it and pin it in four streams. Ray threw a trap and it was sucked down into the column of light with one last roar, as if just realizing that it had been tricked.

The Ghostbusters crowded around the man to congratulate him for his quick thinking and his courage. "See, it _was_ an _Oni_!" Ray said excitedly. "The Bon Festival is an intrinsic part of his cultural heritage. He couldn't resist the song once he saw there was no one to dance the _Bon Odori_ , he had to join in!"

"Nice one, man," Peter said, holding up his hand. The drummer grinned and gave him a high five.


End file.
